NABCO: Good news for NABCO beneficiaries across the country
Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093
Schoolchildren starved as DCE sacks school feeding caterer for fmr. MP’s wife
The acting District Chief Executive (DCE) of the Bawku West District, Victoria Ayamba, is reported to have unilaterally sacked an accredited Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) caterer and reallocated her contract to the wife of a former Member of Parliament (MP) for Zebilla, Grace Fuseini Adongo. About 600 children went hungry for four days after she stormed the Yikurugu Primary School to throw out the caterer, Ramatu Yaro, from the public school and threatened that she would not be paid for her services even if she continued to feed the children. The unilateral dismissal suffered by the caterer comes after the Office of the President had warned all acting local-government appointees to not take any decision “involving a policy issue” in a letter dated 11th January, 2021, and signed by the Chief of Staff, Akosua Frema Osei-Opare. Besides, the GSFP’s national secretariat came up with a press statement last month in strong disapproval of attempts by some assemblies to recruit new GSFP caterers and it directed all caterers already at work to remain at their various posts. But a few days after the GSFP had issued that cautionary statement, some unfamiliar faces emerged on the premises of the Yikurugu Primary School to prepare food for the schoolchildren whilst the familiar caterer, who had been feeding the pupils since 2018, was busy at the school’s kitchen. Authorities at the school told the strangers they were unaware of their engagement and turned them away. The following morning, the strangers returned to the school with five men described as “thugs”. The alleged thugs threw water on a fire the accredited caterer had set to prepare a meal for the schoolchildren and scattered the kitchen utensils being used. Whilst those men were warning the caterer to stop cooking and to stay away from the school’s grounds thenceforth, the school’s authorities got involved again. This time, the authorities at the school told the ‘intruders’ to provide a document to show that the government had appointed them to feed the school. They could not provide the requested document. But they told the school that they had been sent by “the wife of the former MP” to take over from Ramatu Yaro. As the authorities stood their ground against their mission, they left and the troubled caterer resumed cooking. Acting DCE descends on school premises with six police officers The same people returned a third time with two more strongmen in their company. They were met on arrival by some men who had been informed about the caterer’s troubles and had readied themselves to defend her. A serious scuffle erupted. Teaching and learning came to an abrupt halt. The schoolchildren watched with fright from a distance presumed to be relatively safe. Outnumbered and outdone, the ‘trespassers’ retreated to the perimeter of the main highway that leads from Bolgatanga to Bawku for a brief discussion and then left the area. About thirty minutes later, the acting DCE showed up at the school with the Bawku West District Police Commander and six other police officers. Whilst briefing the police about the GSFP-related conflict at the basic school, the school’s authorities cited Ramatu Yaro as the only caterer known to the school and supported their claims by providing a logbook that showed records of the services she had rendered to the school since 2018. The “accredited caterer” renewed her health certificate at the Bawku West District Assembly in January, 2021, only to be sacked a month later. But the stand-in DCE, according to a police source, interjected by saying that the catering contract actually belonged to Grace Fuseini Adongo, wife of the immediate-past MP for Zebilla, Frank Fuseini Adongo. The caretaker DCE is quoted to have stated further that Ramatu was made to front the contract for Grace and that the contract documents also were made to bear her name (Ramatu Yaro) as the caterer in a bid to protect Grace from exposure to possible conflict-of-interest issues considering her status as a wife to a policymaker. Accredited caterer dismissed by acting DCE shares experience That meeting ended with the “government-recognised” caterer being told by the provisional DCE to stop cooking with an open threat that she would not receive any payment from government for any subsequent services if she ignored her order. The acting DCE was also caught on tape telling the accredited caterer that “Ghana School Feeding Programme at the national level says when you finish cooking today, you should stop cooking.” The caterer obliged and the underprivileged schoolchildren, in whose interest the policy was generally introduced in the country against hunger as well as malnutrition and extreme poverty, had nothing to eat for four days at the school. Subsequently, the transitional DCE forwarded two names to the school (Akoloba Akulsum and Afaneg Apasiba) as its new cooks and announced Grace Fuseini Adongo as its caterer. She also instructed that the cooks should start cooking from Tuesday February 2, 2021. The ousted caterer, now distressed, told Starr News that the former MP for the area secured the contract for her family and, after she returned from a training programme organised for caterers recruited by the GSFP, the former MP’s wife (Grace Fuseini Adongo) imposed herself on her as the person to supply at all times any foodstuff to be prepared for the school. She said she did not like the arrangement but had to comply as it was evident that Grace was taking advantage of her as a beneficiary of her husband’s efforts. “I was given only 300 Ghana cedis a month since 2018”— Evicted caterer The evicted caterer said the contract document bore her name (Ramatu Yaro) but Grace had managed to take it away from her by asking for it some time ago on the pretext of taking it home to read. The only material yet to be taken from her, she says, is the e-zwich account card which also bears her name and through which payments for services rendered are made. “Since I started cooking
NAPO searches for fire extinguisher as 2024 Vice Presidential ambition is set ablaze by Maths Set scandal
The alleged ambitions of former Education Minister Mathew Opoku Prempeh popularly known as Napo to become Vice Presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 2024 has been dented by a scandal covering the procurement of 853,000 pieces of mathematical sets which Africa Education Watch (AEW) has revealed were overpriced and fleecing and were not delivered on time and in full since 2019. The Maths Sets scandal which trended for several days on social media saw Napo come under severe attack from several quarters including from persons within his own party who said this scandal is likely to dent his image and chances at being running mate if he indeed has such ambitions. MyNewsGh.com is reliably informed this is only one out of a series of scandals that will hit the former education Minister over his stewardship of the education sector for the last four years for which he has to answer. This comes even before he officially starts work at the Energy Ministry where he has been reappointed. Maths set scandal MyNewsGh.com was the original website that broke the news of the maths sets contracts and the arrests of Kwadwo Darko-Mensah, which all other website picked from. This scandal came up over the procurement of 853,000 pieces of Kapek Mathematical Sets Instruments at Gh¢75 each, which Africa Education Watch revealed Liberia and Sierra Leone procured the same Kapek Mathematical sets Instruments from the same company even at retail price got it cheaper than what Ghana got for wholesale of 853,000 pieces. MyNewsGh.com was also informed that the person behind the contract is the wife of big man who owns a big beach resort in Ghana but used Bluegrass Limited owned by Onasis Kwadwo Darko-Mensah as a front. In a rather dramatic twist, Africa Education Watch also revealed that the actual price of the Mathematical Sets was Gh¢93 and not Gh¢75 as the Ministry of Education claimed. According to Kofi Asare who is Executive Director of the Africa Education Watch, the actual price of the Kapek Mathematical sets procured by Ghana on sole-sourcing basis was higher than the Gh¢75 government announced because the 75 cedis excluded the tax exemption of $3.6million granted to the contractor, one Kwadwo Darko-Mensah. CEO of Africa Education Watch, Mr. Kofi Asare said it is “very funny” for Education Ministry to justify the price of the mathematical sets using Kapek scientific calculator as decoy, as the same package costs far less in Liberia and Sierra Leone which also operate under WAEC. The difference between KAPEK and the real scientific calculator is, KAPEK has no memory and cannot be programmed; Just to prevent students from putting stuff on then into the exam room. That is all. So it is cheaper than the regular scientific calculator which is programmable. As for the plastic mathset it comes with, we know the price. Just go to Makola. Its less than GH 20. Infact, a similar KAPEK Mathematical Instrument sells for $10 In Liberia and $12 in Sierra Leone at retail; not wholesale. (Both WAEC member countries) This Blue Grass Company bought ours at international distributor bulk order quantity of 850,000 and still supplied to government at $17 (inclusive the taxes*) The unit cost is not GH 75; its GH 93. The GH 17 million tax exemption must be added to the GH 63 million and divided by the 853,000 pieces. He explained. He said WAEC also didn’t make it compulsory to acquire the math sets as claimed by Dr Mathew Opoku Prempeh to justify the contract. My News Gh Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: 0555568093
Gov’t officials will publicly take doses of COVID-19 vaccines to demystify fear – Oppong Nkrumah
Some government officials will publicly take doses of the COVID-19 vaccines before the mass vaccination exercise to help demystify the public apprehension about the vaccine. The Ghana Health Service (GHS) will next month begin a mass vaccination exercise with COVID-19 vaccines for selected segments of the population. The vaccines will first be administered to health care workers, frontline security personnel, persons with known underlying medical conditions, 60 plus older persons and frontline members of the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has, so far, approved AstraZeneca vaccines from India and Sputnik-V vaccines from Russia for mass immunisation in Ghana, starting from March to October. However, some social media platforms are awash with videos and photographs of people, who allegedly took COVID-19 vaccines in other jurisdictions, experiencing side effects, such as twisted mouth and nose, which has created fear and panic among a section of the Ghanaian population. It is in that light, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister-designate for Information, said at a public engagement on the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out plan, in Accra on Friday that, some members of government, including himself, would volunteer to publicly take shots of the COVID-19 vaccines to demystify the negative perception. He said there would be elaborate stakeholder engagements and sustained public sensitisation campaigns by the Ghana Local Service(GLS), Ministry of Health(MOH), Ghana Health Service(GHS) National Commission for Civic Education(NCCE) and Information Services Department (ISD), to educate the public on the upcoming immunisation exercise. Mr Oppong Nkrumah said health staff from the GHS, ISD and NCCE would visit markets, lorry parks, churches, mosques and other public places, with vans to sensitise the public, explain and answer questions regarding the vaccination exercise. The Minister-designate urged the mass media to continue partnering government in educating the public on the vaccination programme as well as advocating strict adherence to the COVID-19 safety and preventive protocols. Dr Kwame Amponsa-Achiano, the Programme Manager, Expanded Programme on Immunisation, Ghana Health Service, said the COVID-19 vaccines the country would soon administer had gone through clinical trial and proven to be safe and efficacious. He said it would be administered in three phases, with each person taking two doses. It is estimated that 20 million Ghanaians would be vaccinated at a cost of over $50 million and that it would cost the government $2.60 per person. He said the GHS had trained over 12,500 vaccinators, 2,000 supervisors and 37,413 volunteers to administer the vaccines across the 260 metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies. The vaccines would be stored at temperatures between two and eight degrees Celsius. Dr Amponsa-Achiano said the country had a robust immunisation programme with more than 95 per cent coverage, which had stood the test of time. Ghana’s COVID-19 vaccine immunisation regime is being supported by the COVAX Facility, the African Medicine Platform, the African Union and civil society organizations into pharmaceutical service. Dr Amponsa-Achiano announced that the country would initially take delivery of more than 350,000 COVID-19 vaccines in a few weeks to enable the nationwide exercise to commence. GNA Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +233555568093
Breaking News: BOTECH is close down
The Bolgatanga Technical Institute in the Upper East Region has been close down following a clash between two student groups on Tuesday night. According to information gathered by Apexnewsgh.com, the fight between the two student groups was as a result of a long-unsettled misunderstanding between the two groups which actually took place last year. Meanwhile, per the information gathered by Apexnewsgh, the recent clash was more serious because the firing of gunshots by the two student groups injured some students who were within the school premises at the time of the clash. But, in order to calm issues down, the Acting Upper East Regional Minister Tangoba Abayage later came and announced the closure of the school till further notice Apexnewsgh.com/Ghana/Ngamegbulam Chidozie Stephen Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +233555568093
MTN donates PPE to Senior High Schools to fight covid-19
MTN Ghana on Wednesday, February 17, 2021, made donations of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to some selected senior high schools across the country as they continue to help in the fight against the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. The telecommunications giants made the donations through the MTN Ghana Foundation with staffers visiting the selected schools in the various regions. In the Greater Accra Region, Salem SHS, Kinbu SHS, Accra High SHS, Accra Academy SHS and the Odorgonno SHS benefited from the donations of PPEs. In all, the MTN Ghana Foundation has today donated 2000 pieces of hand sanitizers, soaps, washing basins, boxes of nose masks, as well as thermometer guns. Interacting with the media after the donation at Salem SHS, Education Portfolio Advisor with MTN Ghana, Ebenezer Terkpeh explained that they are giving out the PPEs to help students in the school adhere to the Covid-19 protocols. “We realize most of the schools have these PPEs so what we are doing is we want to enhance and to deepen what they are already observing. That is why we decided to touch them with this little that we have and also to advise them to keep observing the protocols,” he shared. Receiving the PEEs on behalf of Salem SHS, Mr. Robert Vandyck who is the headmaster of the school expressed gratitude to MTN Ghana and its foundation for always having them in mind. “We really do appreciate what they have done for us. We didn’t expect it although with MTN Foundation we have always had a good relationship. “We really appreciate them for thinking of us on this occasion. These unique basins for washing hands will go a long way to help us and make it easier for the school children to safely wash their hands and adhere to the safety protocols,” Mr. Vandyck noted. Besides these donations to Senior High Schools, MTN Ghana has in the past year been at the forefront of helping the government in the fight against the Coronavirus pandemic. The telecommunications giants in addition to donating GHS5 million to the Covid-19 trust, have also supported the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research and other health facilities. They are also planning to make donations of PPEs to selected hospitals across the country. ModernGhana Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +233555568093
Armed robbers devise new trick on Bolgatanga roads
Some residents of Bolgatanga say armed robbers have worked out a new way of stealing from motorists on the roads of the Upper East regional capital. The gangsters, according to them, stand well-dressed by the roadside and, with pistols concealed under their clothes, draw closer in a friendly manner to any motorcyclist as road users are being held at an intersection by the red traffic lights. Once they are close enough, they start a brief chat with the biker with audible greetings. Soon after the conversation begins, they draw out a handgun exposed only to their target and whisper a strong caution for calm. At that time, onlookers far and near would think that the spectacle (which is actually a highway raid) is a usual roadside gathering of old pals whose paths have crossed again. Then, they whisper a stern order to the victim to quietly hand over the bike to them and to either remain calm at the spot until they leave with the automobile or get shot for any gesture of resistance. “Just recently, a woman was riding on the Bolgatanga-Navrongo Highway around 7:00pm and a man stopped her around the regional library junction as if they knew each other. One might even think the man wanted the woman to give him a ride. The woman stopped. He walked to her and whilst he was talking with her, the woman got down from the motorbike. The guy rode the bike away. It was after he had gone far out of reach the woman began to wail. She then narrated to a crowd that she had been robbed of her motorbike at gunpoint by a man who stopped her as though he needed assistance,” an eyewitness (name withheld) told Starr News on Tuesday. It has also been reported that a raid was launched on a biker in a similar style some time ago around an old steel bridge that links the Bolgatanga Municipality and the Bolgatanga East District. The Bolgatanga Divisional Commander of the Ghana Police Service, Chief Superintendent Dela K. Dzansi, advised the public in a Starr News interview: “If you have other road users around you when you are under such an attack, you could raise alarm because he couldn’t have fired you alone. Or you can jerk up your motorbike for the motorbike to fly out of your body and fall on the ground. That will confuse the person and you can raise alarm. We will be making the police mount checks at the various traffic lights. They will be parking there intermittently and be observing.” Armed robber reportedly lynched at Nyariga Reports also emerged this month about a failed attempt by a four-member armed gang to rob at Nyariga, a community in Bolgatanga. Overpowered by members of the community, the hoodlums fled in different directions. One of the armed robbers was overtaken, caught and lynched, according to sources who now fear that the escapees might return with reinforcements from their hideouts to the area and stage a tit-for-tat attack for the killing of one of their own. About two weeks ago, some men in masks gunned down two drivers at the Pusu-Namongo area of the Bolgatanga-Tamale Highway and robbed the occupants of the vehicles of large sums of money. Hours later, angry members of the Ghana National Tomato Traders and Transporters Association staged a protest on that highway because the affected travellers were on a business trip to Burkina Faso to purchase tomatoes. The development prompted the Inspector General of Police (IGP), James Oppong-Boanuh, to order police protection for tomato traders travelling from Ghana to Burkina Faso. Just last week, another armed-robbery incident saw a cattle dealer killed near Katiu in the Kassena-Nankana West District. There had been a robbery raid the previous day by some armed men who also held some market women at gunpoint and raped them on the Chiana-Sandema Road. A serial social-media critic of armed robbers in Chiana, an area in the Kassena Nankana West District, had luck on his side when some masked men scaled the fence around his house and attempted to break in upon entering the compound. “The man has been criticising armed robbers on social-media platforms and his criticisms have intensified of late because of the recent spate of armed robbery attacks in the region. The man and his wife were absent at the time the men arrived. But his children were at home. As the men were trying to force the main door open, one of the children noticed it and thought their parents had arrived home. “But in order to be sure first that the people at the door were their parents before he would open the door, he walked to the window side to take a peep. But he rather saw those men, each of them in a hood (a piece of cloth covering their heads). He became frightened and sounded the alarm. The scream scared off the men. But as they were leaving, they said the man (their target) was fortunate that he was not around to have suffered for the social-media comments he had been passing against them,” a resident of the area told Starr News by phone. Starrfm Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +233555568093
GHS issues Ebola alert after Guinea records seven cases
The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has directed all regional and district health facilities to activate their preparedness and response plan for Ebola. It follows confirmation of seven cases of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Guinea over the weekend. Authorities in the West African country have also confirmed two deaths so far since the outbreak. A circular cited by Asaaseradio.com and addressed to all regional directors of GHS said: “All regional and district public health emergency management committees should include EVD on their agenda. “Additionally, regions, districts, health facilities, port health units at all border posts particularly along the Western border and all landing beaches are to heighten surveillance for EVD using standard case definition. They are also requested to remind all Ghanaians and residents in Ghana on the need to protect themselves from the disease.” The circular further warned the public against any attempt to transport suspected cases of Ebola in a private or public transport. Find the circular below: Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +233555568093
COVID-19: Ghana records 19 deaths in a day
At least 702 new COVID-19 cases have been confirmed increasing the active cases in Ghana to 7,866, according to the Ghana Health Service. Ghana has recorded its highest daily deaths of 19 so far since the outbreak of COVID-19 in March 2020, latest figures from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) reveal. The country’s death toll now stands at 561 as at 13 February. At least 702 new COVID-19 cases have been confirmed increasing the active cases in Ghana to 7,866. This brings the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 77,748 since March 2020. According to the GHS, 69, 321 have so far recovered and been discharged. Airport update At least 1,179 cases have been confirmed at the Kotoka International Airport since it was reopened to human traffic in September 2020 out of which 981 have recovered. The latest figure also puts severe cases at 86 with 29 people in critical condition. Regional breakdown of cases Greater Accra Region – 45,191 Ashanti Region – 13,822 Western Region – 4,559 Eastern Region – 3,342 Central Region – 2,697 Volta Region – 1,386 Bono East Region – 966 Northern Region – 862 Bono Region – 833 Upper East Region – 814 Western North Region – 773 Ahafo Region – 625 Upper West Region – 307 Oti Region – 258 Savannah Region – 69 North East Region – 61 Asaase Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +233555568093
Ebola outbreak in Guinea: Government to intensify border patrols – Ambrose Dery
The Minister-designate for Interior, Ambrose Dery has disclosed that government has initiated processes to intensify border patrols following the outbreak of Ebola in Guinea. According to him, Ghana currently has over 200 unapproved routes along our borders which needs critical attention in order to prevent importation of the disease into the country. Guinea has so far recorded up to 10 suspected cases of Ebola and 5 people have died since the start of the new outbreak of the deadly virus in the West African nation, medical authorities said on Tuesday. Guinea’s Health Ministry said it has identified 115 contacts of the known cases in the city of Nzerekore in the country’s south east and 10 in the capital Conakry since the outbreak was confirmed on Sunday. Unlike the deadliest known outbreak, which tore through West Africa from 2013 to 2016, Guinean authorities have said they are better prepared to stop the spread of the virus. JoyNews/AdomNews · Ebola outbreak in Guinea: Government to intensify border patrols But responding to a question during his vetting Mr Dery said the Immigration Service together with other security agencies will secure Ghana borders from any such outbreak. Noting that the outbreak is a matter of concern to government, he told the Appointments Committee that government will ensure the needed resources are provided to officers of the Immigration Service to prevent the outbreak in Ghana. “We need to work hard to ensure that Ebola doesn’t come here (Ghana). And I am committed to making sure that we protect our borders as much as possible, that is why we are building the Immigration Service’s capacity.” “But at the end of the day, we still need some technology to help us, and I think that above all we need support from the people. That is why we are building good relations with the people at the border,” he said. Myjoyonline Please contact Apexnewsgh.com on email apexnewsgh@gmail.com for your credible news publications. Contact: +233555568093